Israeli Construction Workers Make Big Discovery That Ties Ancient Church To Today

It was a day like any other for the highway construction crew working to widen the busy road connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Then, in the midst of moving dirt, the Israeli crew came across something that would become a moving symbol connecting the ancient church with modern times.

As TheBlaze reports, archaeologists believe that what these construction workers uncovered are the remains of a large Byzantine era church that “may have serviced the spiritual needs of travelers.”

“The Israel Antiquities Authority on Wednesday announced the discovery of the church whose northeast corner included a baptismal font in the shape of a four-leaf clover, symbolizing the cross,” TheBlaze noted.

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Image Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority/Annette Nagar

In the 21st century, of course, highway travelers are used to seeing gas stations, fast food restaurants, and motels along their journey; but, as Annette Nagar, director of the excavation, noted of the fascinating find adjacent to Highway 1 west of Jerusalem, “Along this road, which was apparently already established in the Roman period, other settlements and road stations have previously been discovered that served those traveling the route in ancient times. Included in the services provided along the route were churches, such as the one recently uncovered at the entrance to Abu Gosh.”

The practice of locating a church alongside or very near a well-traveled roadway didn’t end in ancient times. TheBlaze article on the archaeological find in the Holy Land notes a recent news report that talked of a house of worship being built on a major thoroughfare:

A Public Radio International report in 2013 profiled a new church in Siegerland along a German motorway, the 40th such spiritual center erected on a German highway.

“Since the 1950s, these churches have popped up along major highways. Some are Protestant; some are Catholic. Siegerland’s is ecumenical,” PRI reported. “All are designed to provide spiritual refreshment to travelers of any faith.”

In studying the remains of the Byzantine-era church in Israel, antiquities experts found the structure contained “red plaster fragments discovered among the debris [that] suggested the church walls were once decorated with frescoes. Additionally, a 20-by-10-foot side chapel was decorated with a white mosaic floor.”